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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. row — to paddle
  3. capital — a city
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. rule — government
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. bound — certain
  8. kid — child
  9. rule — a law
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. file — a line of people
  12. bound — obliged
  13. bound — tied together
  14. squash — the sport
  15. safe — a strongbox
  16. file — a tool
  17. squash — to crush
  18. capital — money
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. row — a line
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. file — a document

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com